The SQL server platform from Microsoft has become one of the main relational database management systems used by small and large-scale enterprises for managing large amounts of enterprise data. The SQL server has the primary task of storing and retrieving data as requested by other software applications that may be running on different computers across a network. To protect data integrity and to guard against catastrophic failures, system administrators almost always use a network backup program to provide periodic backups of system data, such as the database and system data managed by the SQL server. Network backup methods typically utilize file image backups and/or volume image backups. File backups backup individual files, while, a volume backup backs up all data in a specified volume. In the case of data loss or system failure, data can be restored from the data backup. The two primary types of backups are full backups and incremental backups. A full backup backs up all the files and folders of a drive (data source) each time a backup session is performed, while an incremental backup backs up only the files and folders that have been changed or added since the last incremental backup. Incremental backups are typically faster and require less disk space, but restore times can be increased since all incremental backup versions must be available and searching may be required to find latest versions of a file.
Certain software tools have been developed to optimize operation of SQL server data with network backup systems. The NetWorker backup and recovery software from EMC Corp. centralizes, automates, and accelerates data backup and recovery across large scale networks, and a Networker Module for Microsoft (NMM) has been developed to provide backup and restore of SQL server database and transaction logs. This provides integration to the EMC Data Domain (DD) deduplication storage system backup platform. The NMM system provides a single, unified solution that uses Microsoft's Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) for snapshot-based (full type) protection and recovery of SQL data, as well as VDI (Virtual Device Interface) for transaction log-based (incremental type) backups. VSS is basically a framework that consists of a set of functions that enable applications to perform backups of volumes, and uses writers, which are applications that store information on disk through the VSS interface; and VDI is a set of application programming interfaces (API's) that enable a vendor to integrate SQL server into its products. VSS allows the system to backup the database files while SQL Server is running by performing snapshot backups, which are backups of a file or folder on a specific volume at a specific point in time.
At present, a main disadvantage of current SQL server backup and restore systems is that the VSS framework does not support incremental backups of a SQL DB. Hence, point in time restore is not possible using SQL VSS snapshot-based backups. On the other hand the SQL VDI framework does support the incremental backup of a SQL DB and hence achieves point in time restore. At present, due to this difference SQL VSS and VDI backups are treated as separate solutions and separate backups, i.e., SQL VSS (snapshot-based) and SQL VDI (stream-based) backups are both performed as separate processes. This is a costly and cumbersome approach that uses two different technologies and results in the same database being backed up under different namespaces (e.g., INCR and FULL).
What is needed, therefore, is a point-in-time restore process that does not require multiple copies of the same data to be backed-up using different products and backup workflows, and that reduces backup time and storage space requirements.
The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions. EMC, Data Domain, Data Domain Restorer, and Data Domain Boost are trademarks of EMC Corporation.